Anybody who grew up on Doc Savage, like I did, has to love this movie.

This movie was responsible for one of the very few 'cool' moments of my life.

A buddy of mine and I were waiting in line for our third (or was it fourth) viewing of this film. This was in my semi-punk days and I was in my leathers. My buddy looked like the drummer in a prog-rock band, which he was. I was reading Scientific American and he was noodling away on his drum synthesizer, one of the first available as I recall.

I said to my buddy, "Hey, there's some real cool stuff going on in quantumn physics," and started talking about the article I had just read. He starts talking about stuff he's read, and back and forth.

The guy in front of us turns around and says, "You guys are plants, right?"

"Huh?" we reply.

"You've been planted by some PR company to make us think there actually are people like The Hong Kong Cavaliers."

I must say, it's very ego enhancing to be mistaken for a Hong Kong Cavalier.

But enough about me. This is a very cool, very strange and very funny movie. If you don't get this movie, go get a job in The Bush White House. They need even more boring unimaginative people working there.

One of my favorite movies of all time, the only serious SciFi spoof that worked (remember "Starship Troopers"?). The technology is hilarious, Peter Weller pulls everything off with a straight face, and the little points drive it all home. Such as the glass screen in the during the Black Lectroids multimedia showing that has neat phrases such as "Points of Simultuneity" (sp?). Yes, I saw it about 6 times; one has to see it at least twice to make much sense of it, even after seeing a short list of "Things you need to know before seeing Buckaroo Bonzai". The sound track always moves me and is worth renting it alone. The scenes swirl from intrigue, fascination, danger, trimuph, sadness, and hope.

What a cast! What a plot! It was easy to suspend belief and just enjoy it as the visionary tongue in cheek scifi movie it was, positioned right in between "Airplane" and "Matrix". From the first viewing, I was truly ionized...

Oh, and the watermelon was in the vise of a Tinius-Olson machine, which is used by structural scientists/engineers to apply 100,000s of thousands of pounds of force on small structural material prototypes to understand how they deform and eventually fail.

Big Trouble in Little china was originally titled Buckaroo Bonzai and the World Crime League. However due to a new director and the inavailability of the original cast, instead of a wonderful sequel to a spectacular movie, we got a completely original and equally spectacular movie. People who like either of these films should also check out Remo Williams. Somehow these three films make up what I like to call the ultimate 80's crazy almost superhero triumvirate. All of them are just so bizzare and out there, you can't really compare them to anything but each other.

This is a movie where all the greats got their start. John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd (just to name a few) took the experience of this movie and became some of the greatest. Goldblum was able to create to be americas favorite scientist in my childhood favorite "the Fly". Lloyd had many great roles such as Doctor Brown in the Back to the Future epics, and who could forget his convincing stab at a camp counseler named Lithgows roll in third rock from the sun or more better Dennis Van Welker in "Camp Nowhere"? Finally John Litgow, even though some might argue John's work in the thriller "the Day After" got his foot in the door I would tend to disagree, there has never been anyone to nail the role of Lord John Whorfinknown as well as Jonny did. He later when on to do cliffhanger and that serious allien thriller "third Rock from the sun". Yes, if it was not for this "special" movie these three might not have gained the leading actor title they now have. Thank you Richter for the idea but thank these three for Buckaroo's success in history.

This is one of the all-time great parodies. I am the only one in my family who loves it - I've been quoting, "Laugh-a while you can, Monkey Boy!" for years, and NO ONE gets it! Sad.

Got to get the DVD - my VHS tape is just about worn out, and I can't be without this flick. Seriously fun!

I agree - "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" are also high-camp fun, as is "Into the Night," with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer. And has anyone seen "Deathrace 2000" with David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone? Total kick in the pants!! "It's a hand grenade."

1983: I am thirteen. My best friend and I are planning on a trip to the movies. Except, we'd initially planned to see STARMAN, but it was sold out. Also playing at the same time, we noticed, was this little movie called BUCKAROO BANZAI. We shrugged and saw that instead.

It was probably a far better move for us than STARMAN would have been; we were both rather weird children.

We came out of the film babbling catchphrases to each other, and for a good two months afterward confused all our friends by shouting "What's that watermelon doing there! BWAHHHH!" to each other across rooms and cracking each other up.

2003: I am overseeing a rehearsal for a play in New York. Our show is being staged in the basement of another theater space, which is running its own show. That other show has a series of weekly celebrity "guest stars", and the dressing rooms for both theaters are next to each other down in the basement where we are. Also, one of the exits is through our basement theater space, so I've gotten used to random big-name actors wandering out into our basement space and looking confused; I usually just walk them over to the elevator to the street.

Anyway, on THIS night, I see another person wander out from the dressing rooms looking confused, and go over to walk him out -- and I'm halfway across the room when it hits me that it is Jeff Goldblum. He spots me at this moment and asks for help getting out, so I make myself act professional and say I'd be happy to. I walk him to the elevator, answer his question that yes, this does take him right out on to the street, and he thanks me.

For the rest of my life, I will be kicking myself that I did not take the opportunity to ask him, "By the way, Mr. Goldblum, what WAS that watermelon doing there after all?"

This movie does indeed rock. If you didn't get it, I'm sorry, but...it's not FOR you.

If I may clarify an earlier post - Big Trouble in Little China has no connection to Buckaroo Banzai aside from the fact that BB's director, W.D. Richter, wrote the final screenplay for Big Trouble. That's it, that's all. These are the words of Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote BB and did not write any sequels. The "BB vs. the World Crime League" script that has circulated the internet for years is a fraud, a work of fan fiction, and was never the basis for Big Trouble. It's a fun rumor, but a rumor it is, and nothing more.

Ever had one of those toons you couldn't get out of your head? I had one for nearly two decades. I'd forgotten where it came from over the years, but after buying this on DVD I have exorcised my demons. It was the theme from BB.

This and another Weller movie "Of Unknown Origin" are his best. (that one is out also--check it out.)

Possibly the most intelligent movie ever made. BB reigns. Anyone who hasn't read the book should do it now -- it has extra stuff -- like a DVD. More characters, more in-depth background. Footnotes even!